I Might Have Fallen in Love With My Childhood Sweetheart-Chapter 11 - 9 God Ji Feeds the Cat

Qingran was quite fond of cats, those soft little animals, but Qingran's mother was allergic to animal fur and would sneeze non-stop if she smelled it. Therefore, Qingran's wish to keep a pet at home had to be shelved.

Qingran's mother felt very guilty that her allergy prevented her daughter from fulfilling that little wish, so to make it up to her daughter, she bought Qingran many realistic plush animal toys.

Qingran was already past the age of playing with plush toys, but every time she saw the plush toys her mother brought home, she would still act very happy.

Later, her mother died unexpectedly, and Qingran's father, after more than a decade of deep love with his wife, could not handle the shock. He became seriously ill and, once recovered, seemed to numb himself by pouring all his energy into his work.

Later on, Li Qingmo did mention once at the dinner table about getting a small pet at home. Their father silently gulped down several mouthfuls of food without saying a word.

Qingran quickly refused her brother's kindness, using her loss of interest in small animals as an excuse. She saw both her brother and father breathe a sigh of relief. Was it not just her father who didn't want to erase the traces of their mother's life in their home?

After dinner, their father called them siblings to his study. He looked at them for a long while and then suddenly his eyes reddened. This man who had led a smooth life for half of it now faced the fatal blow of losing his wife in middle age. After two lonely and mournful years, he suddenly came to his senses, having neglected his children for two whole years...

After things calmed down, a group of small stray cats often appeared on the big tree not far from Qingran's home. Qingran didn't know whether these stray cats were intentionally brought there by her father or not. She hadn't lied at the dinner table; ever since her mother's death, she really didn't like small animals that much anymore.

The stray cats were probably very hungry and became familiar with Qingran, who often fed them. Upon seeing Qingran from afar, they would scurry down from the tree. Qingran squatted under the tree, pouring cat food into little dishes in her hands.

"Meow... meow... meow..." Soft, milky meows could be heard. Qingran stood up and looked around, unable to find the source of the kitten's voice, but instead heard faint sounds from above in the tree.

Qingran took a cautious step back and looked up, searching the dense tree leaves for the kitten. The first thing she saw was the long legs wrapped in black pants, and in the lap of the boy sitting on the tree branch was a dirty orange kitten.

The setting sun, not yet fully set, generously scattered orange light through the blotchy leaves onto the handsome features of the boy. The boy was wearing a black baseball cap backwards on his head, and his deep eyes gazed down at Qingran, the kitten in his arms still meowing.

The boy must've been at an age somewhere between adolescence and youth, shedding childhood but yet fully matured.

For a moment, Qingran felt he looked familiar, but she couldn't figure out where she had seen him before. She sidestepped the feeding cluster of cats and silently moved back two more steps. The boy in black pants on the tree carefully jumped down, taking advantage of the space Qingran had stepped away from.

He nodded to Qingran, then squatted to place the kitten he was holding among the other cats. The kitten meowed a couple more times, squeezing its way to the front of the food with its small body.

The boy in black pants stood up, towering over Qingran by quite a bit. He had a tall and slender figure, and his facial features were more pronounced up close. However, his complexion was too pale, almost sickly.

Qingran thought that someone of his appearance would be unforgettable after one glance. She was certain she had never met him before, or else she wouldn't just feel vaguely familiar without any clear memory.

The boy in black pants reached out his right hand to Qingran, then, as if remembering he had held a dirty kitten, withdrew it quickly. There was no sparkle in his eyes, but his voice was exceptionally gentle: "Hello, Qingran, I'm Ji Yanchen. I just moved in yesterday. From now on, we'll be neighbors."

As he spoke, he raised his hand to indicate a direction, showing where his house was.

Qingran's eyes widened in surprise. She hadn't paid any attention to what he said after he mentioned his name because she, even though not well-informed, had heard of Ji Yanchen's fame many times. Ever since he became a legend after the math competition, God Ji had been a hot topic in F High.

But the God Ji she knew doesn't look like this. Ruan Ruan had said that God Ji's fame came from talent, not from his looks, and that relying on looks is short-lived and not a real skill, only talent guarantees a carefree life.

In other words, Ruan Ruan implied that Ji Yanchen wasn't that great-looking.

At school, Qingran had encountered Ji Yanchen a few times, and in her memory, Ji Yanchen was always wearing black-rimmed glasses, with half-length bangs covering half of his face, giving off the impression of an average appearance and a depressive personality.

Who would have thought that Ji Yanchen, after removing the black-rimmed glasses and a baseball cap pressing down overgrown hair, could have a face that didn't pale compared to Xie Ying'an?

Qingran quickly regained her composure, and the look of surprise didn't even last three seconds on her face. She was somewhat puzzled as to how Ji Yanchen knew her name.

"God Ji... Senior Brother Ji, hello. Your reputation precedes you," Qingran said following the direction Ji Yanchen had indicated earlier. A building with a rather minimalistic architectural design, the small villa stood there. She smiled politely: "I'm glad to become neighbors with Senior Brother."

Ji Yanchen looked at Qingran with a slight daze, then after a while, returned a faint smile.

Qingran paused, looking at the God Ji in front of her as his lips curved into a light arc, revealing a small dimple on his left cheek — certainly handsome, though she could only consider calling that stiffness a smile.

But she had heard that Ji Yanchen was reclusive and had a mild form of autism. Although minor, it meant he preferred not to interact with classmates.

He was used to being alone, without friends or close classmates, and unwilling to talk more than necessary to the students he saw every day. Today was their first meeting; even if out of politeness, at most they would give a nod to acknowledge each other. Why would he suddenly smile at her?

Qingran's gaze lingered on the group of cats, her thoughts drifting off slightly. The smile on Ji Yanchen's face appeared for only a moment before he squatted down again to watch the stray cats vying for food, uttering his second sentence after seeing Qingran.

"I like cats too."

Qingran absentmindedly nodded in response and poured the remaining cat food from the bag into the small dishes one by one.

Then, Ji Yanchen seemed to open up a conversation:

"Kittens are really cute."

"..."

"A bit dirty, but soft and fluffy."

"..."

"They can climb trees... and go really high."

"..."

"Climb up and then are afraid to come down..."

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"..."

As the sun finally disappeared behind the mountains, the last trace of orange light vanished from the earth, the stray cats, now full, began leaving in twos and threes. With a leap into the bushes, they did not forget to look back at Qingran and meow before disappearing into the dense foliage.

Qingran started to gather the empty dishes scattered on the ground, and she said goodbye to Ji Yanchen, who was half-squatting in front of the kittens: "Senior Brother Ji, I should head back now. Goodbye."

Qingran didn't glance back at Ji Yanchen casually until she reached a faraway corner. At that moment, their so-called God Ji remained in his half-squatting posture, focusing on the orange kitten he had rescued from the tree, as if he had merged into his own world, with everything around him bearing no relevance.

Autism, is just so.

This aloof boy did not appear frequently in the early parts of the books, only casually mentioned in admiration by other students, leaving readers with a shallow impression of him.

In the middle and later parts of the book, however, Ji Yanchen, the God Ji's name, suddenly became deeply inked by the author, described as intelligent, handsome, and solitary — a boy whose world no one could enter.

Xie Ying'an, Li Qingmo, and Ji Yanchen grew up together in the same courtyard. Logically, they should have been close childhood friends who could talk about anything and not just merely acquaintances as they are now. But even as a child, Ji Yanchen preferred not to go out.

While Xie Ying'an and Li Qingmo were close buddies, he would be engrossed in reading, reading even when Li Qingmo and Xie Ying'an were playing with cats and dogs.

And later on, Xie Ying'an became a successful person in life, while he unknowingly became the greatest villain in the book.

In the comments section of the book, the opinions on Ji Yanchen were mixed; some felt sorry for him while others said it was his own fault for not opening up and that he could not blame others.

Yet, the majority of the comments were: If only there were beautiful things in this world that God Ji liked, he wouldn't have turned out like this.

Years later, Qingran's memory of the details in the book had become somewhat blurred, but she still remembered the gist of it quite clearly.

Qingran sighed softly. She needed to keep her distance from Xie Ying'an, from Wen Shiyi, and from Ji Yanchen. After senior year, these people were just passersby to her, and should they meet again, they would be no more than distant, courteous acquaintances.

As the gaze looking at him finally vanished around the corner, Ji Yanchen breathed a sigh of relief and withdrew his stiff hand from the kitten's head.

His pale hand was scratched with several marks by the orange kitten in front of him. Stray cats are wild by nature, even in the face of the person who rescued it, it chose to unsparingly extend its sharp claws.

Ji Yanchen looked at the dried bloodstains on his hand. Leaning against the tree, he slowly turned his baseball cap halfway around, the brim covering his handsome brows and eyes, and only his soft murmuring could be heard: "It scratched me..."

"I don't actually like cats..."

The sky darkened, blending the figure decked in black clothing into the night.